On This Day in 1968, Tammy Wynette Topped the Chart With a Song She Had To Defend for the Rest of Her Life

On this day (December 3) in 1968, Tammy Wynette was at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart with “Stand by Your Man.” The song spent three weeks at No.1 and No. 19 on the Hot 100. Later, it became one of the best-selling singles in the United States. Despite the song’s success, however, its lyrics sparked backlash, leaving Wynette on the defensive.

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Wynette co-penned “Stand by Your Man” with her producer, Billy Sherrill. It reportedly only took them 15 minutes to write the song. To them, it was a sweet love song about being a devoted partner. However, not everyone saw it that way.

The Women’s Liberation movement was gaining momentum in the late 1960s. The lyrics to “Stand by Your Man” went against what the movement was trying to achieve. As a result, the song made Wynette the perfect example of what they didn’t want to be: a compliant woman who was ready and willing to defer to her husband while ignoring poor treatment and infidelity.

Tammy Wynette’s Response to Criticism

Tammy Wynette didn’t completely disagree with the Women’s Liberation movement. In an interview, she shared her thoughts on the backlash the song caused.

“I can sympathize very easily because I have seen it happen in Mississippi, where I was raised, and in Alabama, growing up as a child, where a woman couldn’t make a third of what a man could make doing an identical job,” she said. “I can sympathize with that, and I feel it’s very wrong. A woman should be equal to a man for anything she’s capable of doing, but I still feel there’s a lot of things she isn’t capable of doing,” Wynette added.

Wynette went on to say that she wasn’t didn’t like the idea of doing manual labor. “I’d rather stick with something a little more feminine,” she added. “I wouldn’t want to lose the little courtesies that we’ve always been extended, like lighting cigarettes and opening doors and pulling out chairs and things like that. I enjoy that. I guess I just enjoy being a woman.”

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